Domestic Discoveries
by xsilver-galaxyx
Summary: Eli makes a discovery on Destiny that makes the ship seem a little bit more like home.  Prompt-laundry day
1. Chapter 1

_Written for the 'laundry day' challenge at the LJ community sgu_challenge._

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><p>The three women rounded the corner to find Greer and Scott watching as Eli poked about in what appeared to be a large closet with a glass door. Their firearms had been left on a nearby bench top.<p>

"Is it true?" Chloe exclaimed, "You guys found a _laundry_?"

"It looks like it. I haven't figured out exactly how it works yet, but it's basically an Ancient washer/dryer and press, how hard can it be?" Eli questioned as he accidentally pulled a coil free. He quickly tried to jam it back into place without anyone noticing.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm actually looking forward to doing laundry," Vanessa said "It will be so nice to have clothes that have been washed properly, rather than just being washed in a bucket of recycled water."

"Ironed clothes." Greer drawled "Sharp creases, just the way clothes are supposed to be."

"Guys, seriously?" Eli said incredulously, "I know that it will be nice to have clean clothes again but you are getting excited about doing laundry. Something that I have spent most of my adult life trying to avoid!"

"We know." Scott jokingly said offside to Chloe, who had joined him sitting on one of the benches that ran along two of the walls.

"Hey!" Eli replied with a grin "I am no worse than anyone else on Destiny."

"As strange as it sounds I think might be really good for morale." TJ offered. "The chance to do something normal and mundane could make people relax a little bit, make Destiny feel more like a home."

"It makes sense," Chloe agreed "I mean we're all excited about it, there's no reason why everyone else shouldn't be."

"We'll need to set up some sort of roster, at least for the first week or two, to make sure everyone gets a chance to use. But I think after the initial rush people should be able to use it whenever they need it." Scott said.

"As long as the women get first use of course." Vanessa said pointedly to Scott.

"Oh, no way! Guys, come on back me up?" Scott turned to Eli and Greer.

"You're on your own man," Eli said, holding his hands up in front of him.

"Ladies first." Greer offered, strolling around the room to look at something that was very similar to a top loader washing machine.

"So Eli, how soon do you think you can get it up and running?" TJ asked.

Eli stooped down to look at the mechanics at the base of the machine he was still standing near. "Not sure, a day or two maybe? Nothing looks broken but I'll need to work out how to turn it on. Unfortunately the Ancients didn't leave instructions on how to operate things like their washer/dryer." He said wryly.

"As long as it doesn't turn out like Corporal Kincaid's incident with the Ancient dishwasher." Greer reminded him.

"No. Nope. Definitely not going to being doing that." Eli said emphatically.

"Well, get to it Eli," Vanessa said, "The sooner you get this place working the sooner I have clean t-shirts."

"Yes ma'am" Eli responded throwing her a half hearted salute before turning back to the machine.

"Eli, why haven't you been answering your radio?" Rush demanded as he walked into the room, scribbling some final figures onto his notepad.

"Sorry. It's in my pack." Eli replied pointing across the room to the pile of packs. "But check this place out. We think that we've found the laundry for Destiny."

"Yeah, we're thinking that we'll draw up a roster, so everyone gets a chance to use it." Scott offered.

"That's wonderful. But do you know what the power requirements are for this room?" Rush asked Eli.

"Well no, not yet..." Eli stammered.

"Then I suggest that you find out." Rush interrupted "Destiny's power reserves are low and there are far more pressing needs then clean socks. Do the calculations, work out whether we can actually afford to use the power and then you can consider making rosters." he continued, glancing at Scott. "Eli, I need to you to help Dr Park with the CO2 scrubbers near hydroponics. And I don't have time to keep tracking you down." He finished, walking out of the room.

"Well he was his usual cheery self," Eli said with a grimace. "I'll try and get back to this later today, no promises though."

The mood in the room now considerably dampened, Scott patted Eli on the shoulder, "Don't worry about it, whenever you're able to get to it is fine."

"Yeah, washing our clothes in buckets really isn't that bad." Vanessa said with a slightly disappointed smile.

As Eli replaced the panels that he had taken off the machine, the others started to gather the packs and firearms before leaving the room to head back to the main living areas of the ship.

"I'll mention it to the colonel; I think the morale boost will make any power consumption worthwhile." TJ said as she walked out of the room behind Eli, the lights shutting off behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

The laundry room was a hive of activity and for a nice change of pace on Destiny, it seemed like at least half the crew had gathered together for reasons other than impending disaster. People were standing over make-shift laundry baskets, sorting through dirty clothes, trying to match up pairs of now clean socks and separating out wet laundry for the drying process.

There was a light hearted and happy mood throughout the room, the normally mundane task of laundry having become an exciting new novelty on the ship. All throughout the room groups were chatting, some conversations politer than others.

"You are absolutely not putting your stinky socks in with my laundry." Brody insisted, holding his basket protectively away from Volker.

"Come on, Colonel Young said that we were to put as much stuff into each wash as possible so we didn't use too much power."

"I know, I was there. And I don't care. I am not letting you put your washing in with mine." Brody replied defiantly.

"Really, so you want to explain to Rush why the power consumption was higher than Eli estimated?" Volker retorted.

"Oh please. Like they're going to notice one extra load of washing. It was a power _estimate_. It's not like they calculated exactly how many pieces of laundry every person on Destiny had." Brody said smugly, turning to use the washer that Becker had just vacated.

"Hey Dale," Lisa said, coming up beside him, "Wanna share a machine?"

"Sure. Let me take that for you." He replied, reaching for her basket and throwing his own smug look back at Brody.

TJ and Scott were sitting on one of the benches that ran along the wall of the room, ostensibly keeping an eye on the crew, but things had been fine for the past few hours, with only one minor incident where one of the civilians had created too many soap bubbles which somehow found their way onto a marine's head. Thankfully the marine, one of the largest members of the Destiny crew, had laughed it off.

"So, um, your roster idea worked out really well." TJ said innocently, looking around the room at the people lining up to get access to the machines.

"It was a good idea in theory." Scott protested. "Actually we've probably got the Colonel and Rush to thank for this. They were insistent that everyone had to attend to their normal duties. Rush especially. Means that everyone has to come in at different times."

"It's probably better this way. The reason this was going to be so good for morale was because it was something normal for people to do. Laundry becomes less normal when you're given a rostered time to do it."

"So you think its working? The morale booster?" Scott asked.

"Look around. We don't get moments like this very often on Destiny." TJ said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Yeah. I'm surprised Eli was able to get it up and running so quickly. Rush has been working him really hard lately." Scott said, looking across the room to where Eli was pulling crystals from the side of one of the ironing machines.

TJ followed his gaze to Eli. "I think Dr Park did some work. Plus Chloe and James said they were in here a few times to help Eli. Although I think when they say 'help' what they actually mean is 'pestering him to work faster'."

"Well Chloe seems to be actually helping Eli now." Scott responded, watching Chloe as she held a flashlight for Eli.

"Hmm. That's because Chloe's already done her's. She and James were the first to use it after they did a test run with some rags."

"Can you move a little to the left?" Eli asked.

Chloe adjusted the flashlight, "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks." Eli looked at some readings before turning his attention back to the machinery. "I think this room is going to need constant attention to keep it running. Rush is not going to be happy about that."

"You said that he was ok with it once you explained what needed to be done. And Colonel Young spoke to him about it being a good thing for the crew."

"That's because we didn't need to cannibalise parts from any other systems. And we thought that it was just going to be a case of getting it working again. But we're going to be working on this all the time to keep it running." Eli said shaking his head.

"Well I'm sure the other scientists will help out, Jennifer, Volker. Beside couldn't it just be because the machines have been used so much in the past two days? Once everyone gets over the novelty it won't be nearly as busy."

"Maybe." Eli didn't seem convinced.

"Anyway Colonel Young was really supportive of the idea, he'll want to make sure we can keep using it. Ooh, the lights just came on." Chloe said standing up and stepping back from the machine.

"Great. Hey Greer," Eli called across the room, "You can start using this again."

Greer nodded in acknowledgement and grabbed his basket.

"So have you done your washing yet?" Chloe asked as they headed over to where TJ and Scott were sitting.

"Nah. I think I'll wait until it's a little quieter in here."

"Like to do your laundry in peace and quiet Eli?" Scott questioned as Chloe and Eli leaned against the bench next to him.

"As a matter of fact I do. Besides, if I did it now, I'd probably have to stop five minutes later to fix something."

"Eli!" Lisa sounded panicked as she shouted out across the room.

"See what I mean?" Eli said to the others, "Coming." he responded working his way back across the room to where Lisa and Volker's machine was rumbling.

"I think I'm going to head off." Chloe said turning to Scott and TJ. "You guys staying?"

"Actually I might come too. If you think you can handle things here?" TJ said to Scott.

"I'll manage. I'll see you two at dinner?" Scott replied.

"Great." TJ said.

"See you then." Chloe responded as the two women headed for the door.


End file.
